Governor Rick Perry announced his candidacy for president of the United States on August 13. He enjoyed an immediate bounce in the polls, rushing to the front of the Republican pack and eclipsing Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann as the first choice of Republicans to be their 2012 presidential nominee.

Perry’s national support ranges from 23 to 33 percent, Romney 15 to 20 percent and Bachmann between 10 and 16 percent. Perry’s entry transformed the race as he siphoned support away from both Romney and Bachmann and cast Ron Paul even more into a spoiler role.

The first round of national media examinations of his record as governor of Texas explored allegations of corruption in modest detail; more is certainly in the pipeline. The Perry campaign response was low-key, pointing out that the charges had been investigated before, and maintained control of their message.

The principal message of the Perry campaign is that he will restore employment to the American economy, spotlighting his record that Texas created 37 percent of the jobs in the U.S. in the past year. The candidate has lacked discipline, veering off-message into threats against the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and dismissing evolution.

Some Texas media observers have decided the primary contest in Perry’s favor. Texas Monthly’s Paul Burka suggests, “We might as well skip the primary and go straight to the general election.” Less parochial handicappers suggest that Perry’s most important primary will be in South Carolina, the early contest most like a home state for Perry. Since 1980, every Republican victor in South Carolina has won the nomination.

Rick Perry launched his national political tour early this year at the CPAC conference in Washington. (AP photo)

In general election polling since Perry’s announcement, Perry loses to President Barack Obama by an average of about 3 percentage points. In a nation that has become more conservative since the 2008 vote, Perry’s candidacy is being taking seriously.

Perry’s frontrunner standing will be tested this week: First, he will be judged on the state government’s response to the wildfires that have intensified in Central Texas, East Texas and West Texas. Perry canceled out of a gathering of presidential candidates in South Carolina this afternoon, increasing the national spotlight on his performance as firefighter-in-chief.

Fires permitting, Perry will attend a GOP presidential debate Wednesday night at the Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif. Because of his fire-fueled cancellation today, even more attention will be paid to the NBC-Politico debate.

And add this to the mix: Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a purported ally of the Texas governor, launched an attack this weekend on “crony capitalism,” a charge that has been lodged against both President Obama and Perry. In the coming days, we’ll see how effectively Perry responds to (or deflects) the attacks by Palin and his Republican primary rivals.